GOP Fox Debate Preview: Trump, Jeb and Hillary Watch Your Back

How many candidates will take political liberties with Hillary to prove how tough they are?

This Thursday in Cleveland at the Fox debate, voters can finally see the Republican aspirants for the White House duke it out.

This could be better than any episode of The Celebrity Apprentice.

Democrats, on the other hand, will not be having any debates because the elites have already decided that Hillary should not be inconvenienced with a debate. Although, Vice President Joe Biden is floating some trial balloons in the hopes of Hillary falling flat on her face, she is a lock unless she loses the real Democratic primary – experienced Hillary versus scandal ridden Hillary.

The latest Fox News poll shows strength for billionaire Donald Trump. He is 11 percent ahead of former Florida Governor Jeb Bush. This will be an excellent test to see how good Trump is at fighting a nine front verbal war. Trump has tapped into the anger of the American people against Washington and Republican disappointment with their spineless leaders – will others copy his business model?

Obviously, the most interesting part of this debate will be the performance of Trump. When attacked, how will he respond? Who is crazy enough to take him on and how many times will he make us laugh? Reporters will be laying in wait for a Rick Perry “Oops” moment from him or any of the debate participants.

Jeb will be the second most watched and studied candidate. Is he capable of fighting back when attacked on his generally squishy positions? I expect that the other candidates will attack the policies of President George W. Bush as a way to fight a proxy war with Jeb. Will Jeb respond?

Expect Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama’s name to come up frequently. They will be punching bags and you can expect the candidates to out do each other with the Hillary jabs and Obama right hooks.

These debates will help to choose leaders of the two factions battling for the heart and soul of the Republican Party. The establishment faction focused on fundraising and winning at all costs. The battle to topple the former Florida Governor as the establishment candidate will be lead by Ohio Governor John Kasich, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.

Then there is the Tea Party faction that is more interested in standing strong on the issues. Right now, Trump has dazzled conservatives with harsh rhetoric and a willingness to scrap. Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) are hoping that they can get back some of that support if Trump stumbles or if he takes some positions that anger the Tea Party.

For those who worry that The Donald has it already locked up, Reason points out that “national primary horserace polling is astonishingly bad at predicting the ultimate victor in a months-long nominating contest. Around this point in 2007, Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani were leading in the polls by double-digit margins. In 2011–12, no fewer than five different GOPers traded off for the first-place spot in national polls before Mitt Romney finally pulled out the win.”

Now we can finally stop obsession about every poll that comes out. We can now obsess over every single word uttered at this first debate.

Brian Darling served as Sr. Communications Director and Counsel for Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) from 2012-15. Before his tenure with Sen. Paul, Darling served in three different capacities with The Heritage Foundation. Follow him @BrianHDarling on Twitter.